Talk:Mayawati/GA1

GA Review

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Reviewer: Mark Arsten (talk · contribs) 20:53, 27 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Looks interesting, I'll take this on. Comments to follow within the next couple days. Mark Arsten (talk) 20:53, 27 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

- Thanks! Looking forward to it. -- Dianna (talk) 02:33, 28 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Alright, here are some initial comments, I have a few more that I'll try to add later today or tomorrow. Overall, this is in good shape, no major issues--which is quite an accomplishment given its subject. I think it's within striking distance of GA, but there are a few things that I think will need to be polished/explained before it's promoted. Let me know if I'm unclear at all here. Mark Arsten (talk) 14:36, 30 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

General

Reading over this, the two main issues I have is that there seems to be a lack of discussion of her political ideology (Is she a socialist? Free market capitalist?) and specific policies. There's a little of that in the Chief Minister, 2007 section, but I feel like more is needed.Y Also, watch for things that would be confusing to someone who doesn't know much about Indian politics, i.e. what does the Chief Minister of a state do?Y Is Uttar Pradesh a poor area?Y I have added some background on the state and its political importance. -- Dianna (talk) 01:35, 31 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Should there be a section header for the succession box? I don't recall seeing that before.Y
There's some duplicate linking of Bijnor and Samajwadi Party.Y
Watch for consistence with commas coming after years. ("In 2000 she..." vs "In 2000, she...")Y
Very minor issue, but I noticed there's a citation in the infobox, is that usually done?Y
- There's no need for this citation in the info box as citations are provided throughout. Section header at the succession box has been removed; a quick survey shows it's not normally done. The Chief Minister of the state is the head of government of that state. In Canada we call them the Premier, USA uses Governor, etc. I don't think details are required; I will wikilink on first usage. I have added material on the political platform; let me know if you think it's still inadequate. I haven't spotted any information yet of their economic platform; it looks like their focus is on social reform. If something turns up I will add it. More to follow. -- Dianna (talk) 20:07, 30 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  - What about citations in the lead section? Per MOS they should be removed. There are also some ghastly occurrences of multiple citations immediately after words. I suggest removing all citations from the lead and moving these lead facts, suitably rephrased, to the main body, while retaining the same facts at the lead but with no citations. Δρ.Κ. ^{λόγοςπράξις} 12:12, 31 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]
    - To answer my own question: Done Lead is now fully MOS-compliant reference-wise. Δρ.Κ. ^{λόγοςπράξις} 12:35, 31 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]
      - Thanks, Dr K. The lead is much improved! However, direct quotations in the lead should get a citation, so I have put that one back. --Dianna (talk) 16:46, 31 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]
        No problem, thank you Dianna. Δρ.Κ. ^{λόγοςπράξις} 21:36, 31 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Lead

In the first paragraph three consecutive sentences start with "She...", might want to try for some more variation.Y
You might want to put the praise and criticism in the same paragraph of the lead.Y
It would be nice to have a mention of her political ideology in the lead.Y
I think you should note her incumbent status in the first sentence.-- not sure what you mean by this? She is not presently an incumbent. -- Dianna (talk) 01:35, 31 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]
- I was thinking about the Rajya Sabha office mentioned at the end of the Political career "On 13 March 2012 she filed nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha, and she was declared elected unopposed on 22 March.". Mark Arsten (talk) 15:20, 31 August 2012 (UTC) Done -- Dianna (talk) 16:46, 31 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]
"the youngest chief minister of Uttar Pradesh" Should "chief minister" be capitalized?Y

Early life

I'd suggest putting her date of birth here too.Y
A couple consecutive sentences start with "she was" in the second paragraph. Done Δρ.Κ. ^{λόγοςπράξις} 00:52, 31 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]
"At Kanshi Ram's funeral ceremonies in 2006, Mayawati said they had both been following Buddhist traditions and customs.[14] Her act of performing the last rites (traditionally done by a male heir) was an instance of their views against gender discrimination.[14] She has indicated that she may formally convert to Buddhism at some point.[15]" I'd suggest putting the two sentences about Buddhism side by side.Y
Is it known why Kanshi Ram was intent on making her a leader?/What drew him to her?Y I found some material on this and have added it. -- Dianna (talk) 01:35, 31 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]
"Mayawati said in an interview that she has no time for family life or romantic relationships because she wants to focus on her political career; this is why she remains unmarried." I'd suggest noting that she is unmarried first, and then given the explanation why.

Done Although, I have some reservations about the whole sentence on the basis that a. this is old news b. Mayawati's current political status is unclear in the article. What are her current activities as a member of parliament? c. Having "no time" sounds a bit unbelievable, while having " very limited time" sounds a bit more credible. Δρ.Κ. ^{λόγοςπράξις} 00:50, 31 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Perhaps it's time to remove this. She will likely never marry now, and being unmarried is not that relevant to her current life. -- Dianna (talk) 01:35, 31 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I agree. Δρ.Κ. ^{λόγοςπράξις} 02:17, 31 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Done. -- Dianna (talk) 02:26, 31 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Great. Thank you Dianna. Δρ.Κ. ^{λόγοςπράξις} 02:37, 31 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Political career

Five subsections feels like too many divisions given the length of this section.Y I decided to remove all the subsections, but then it had a bit of a wall-of-text feel, so I added a level-3 header. See what you think. I also reorganised the material to take more general info out of the chronology and set it up at the beginning. -- Dianna (talk) 01:35, 31 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]
"In 1989 she was elected for the Lok Sabha seat of Bijnor, with 183,189 votes" Do you know what percentage of the vote she won? Was it a landslide or a close race?Y A narrow margin; I will add details. -- Dianna (talk) 02:15, 31 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]
"She validated her position by winning from two constituencies in 1996." I'm not sure I understand what "winning from two constituencies" means.
- She won the election for two different constituencies, and was only able to serve in one of them, so she chose Harora. I have re-worded the passage. -- Dianna (talk) 02:15, 31 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]
"So far 17,868 policemen have lost their jobs" I'd suggest "As of [date] 17,868 policemen..." instead of "So far".Y
When was she first elected to Rajya Sabha?Y
"On 13 March 2012 she filed nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha." She was successful in this candidacy, right?Y She was elected unopposed. -- Dianna (talk) 02:15, 31 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]
"Mayawati's career has been called a "miracle of democracy" by former Prime Minister of India P. V. Narasimha Rao." Is there a better place for this? I'm not sure it really flows here.Y

Political and legal issues

I think you should introduce the Taj Corridor case with a sentence or two of explanation.Y
I see "the top 20 taxpayers" but also "wasting the tax-payers' money"Y
I'd consider moving part of the popularity section to the birthdays section. That would leave a pretty small section, so if there's a good place to move the other paragraph I'd suggest doing so.Y
There's some repetition of the word "cables" in the Wikileaks section.Y
"Manoj Gupta, an engineer for the Public Work Department, was reportedly killed by Shekhar Tiwari, the BSP MLA from Auraiya, for not donating money to help fund her birthday celebrations. Tiwari was sentenced in 2011, along with nine others, to life in prison." Is there any evidence of Mayawati's involvement in this?
- I don't think so. Perhaps it should be removed? -- Dianna (talk) 01:35, 31 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  - Yes, please remove it. I never liked that piece. Δρ.Κ. ^{λόγοςπράξις} 02:37, 31 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]
    - Done. It's likely a BLP violation, because people will infer that she was somehow involved. -- Dianna (talk) 04:27, 31 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]
      - No doubt. It was a weasel way to insinuate guilt by association. If I remember well I reverted this guilt vehicle a few times in the past myself. Thank you Dianna. Δρ.Κ. ^{λόγοςπράξις} 11:52, 31 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The article is looking good, I'm satisfied with the fixes thus far. I have a few more small comments which I'll try to get in later. Mark Arsten (talk) 15:20, 31 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]
- I am going to do another round or copy edits, since we churned the content around quite a bit yesterday, and smooth out any rough edges. -- Dianna (talk) 16:46, 31 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]
- Ok, I'll wait until after that to see if there are any niggling grammar issues. At this point, the only place I'm concerned about imbalance is the World Bank criticism subsection. Mark Arsten (talk) 17:46, 31 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  - I have done another round of copy edits. I have found a source detailing her response to the World Bank criticism, if that's what you were hoping to see added. -- Dianna (talk) 19:00, 31 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]
    - Ok, yes, that sounds good. I'll check out your edits soon, I edit conflicted you a moment ago adding a few final questions:
Was she the first female chief minister of U.P.?
This book mentions that she primarily focuses on specific issues, like government hiring of dalits, rather than general political ideologies. Might be worth a mention.
Is there anything worth mentioning about sectarian religious tension/or lack thereof? I know Hindu-Muslim relations have been tough at times in Uttar Pradesh (with the Babri Mosque and so on). Mark Arsten (talk) 19:08, 31 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]
- She was not the first female Chief Minister of U.P.; there was one as early as 1963. I will get the World Bank material added right away as I have the source open in a tab, and will mull over your other suggestions in the meantime. Please feel free to run your eye over the article for further copy edits, -- Dianna (talk) 19:42, 31 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]
  - I am not finding any news reports about sectarian religious tensions right now. I have tweeked the wording about the primary focus of the party. -- Dianna (talk) 20:17, 31 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]
    - I found one source that says her government in 95 was pretty effective in controlling Hindu-Muslim tensions, not sure if it's significant enough to mention. I'll take one more look at the article later and then probably close it. Mark Arsten (talk) 22:37, 31 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]
      - We can certainly use this, and I will add it later; I have to go out. Thanks, Mark, for a really effective GA review that led to big improvements in the state of the article. -- Dianna (talk) 23:13, 31 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]
        Thank you both for your great work and for graciously inviting me to participate. It was fun. Thanks go to Br'er Rabbit in the technical department too. :) Δρ.Κ. ^{λόγοςπράξις} 23:56, 31 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]
        You're both very welcome, great job improving the article, I'm glad to pass this. Mark Arsten (talk) 00:08, 1 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]
        It was great working with you. Thank you again Mark. Take care. Δρ.Κ. ^{λόγοςπράξις} 01:19, 1 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]